


Put Me In, Coach

by catwrites



Series: Chaleigh Sports AUs [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Enemies to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 05:08:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11410851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catwrites/pseuds/catwrites
Summary: Raleigh figured his baseball career would die in the minors after he hurt his shoulder. Then, he's recalled and traded in the same day to the same team his older brother plays on.Sometimes, all you need is a good kick to get you back on track.(The baseball AU no one asked for.)





	Put Me In, Coach

**Author's Note:**

> Hello… Look, I don’t really know, either. Not beta’d, the usual spiel. Pardon my disregard for all the rules of baseball, especially regarding the number of pitches allotted to one pitcher in a season and the number of active players on a roster. 
> 
> Title from Centerfield by John Fogerty 
> 
> Disclaimer: Hockey is my sport before every other one by a wide margin, so my knowledge of the inner workings of baseball is limited (like the number of practices they have in a week and all that), but we need more sports AUs in this world, and everyone knows the closest to drift compatible we get in the big four is the pitcher and his catcher. Or so I’ve been led to believe.
> 
> Enjoy.

_Breaking: Rangers acquire P Raleigh Becket in deal with the Alaska Jaegers for CF Tom Merrit, P Sam McTighe, and cash considerations. Becket was selected third overall in his draft class by the Jaegers and is the younger brother of Rangers’ first baseman, Yancy Becket. R. Becket was on a conditioning stint with the Jaeger’s minor league affiliate, the Anchorage Fisher Cats, after injuring his shoulder in a car accident in the off-season. Despite being left, he has been pitching right since the injury. The Fisher Cats have a disappointing 1-7 record for the start of the season._

\----

Yancy groans into the phone when he picks it up. “’ello?”

“What did you do?” Raleigh demands.

“What? Raleigh, it’s two in the morning. I have practice at 8.”

“Yeah, so do I!” 

“Then goodnight.”

Raleigh stares down at the screen, scandalized.

He hits the phone icon by his brother’s name again.

“I can’t believe you just hung up on me.”

“I can. If I miss practice, I get scratched from the game. Therefore, I need sleep.”

“You really don’t know yet.”

Raleigh can hear Yancy sit up in bed. He can hear the scowl, too.

“I really don’t know. So, either enlighten me and let me go back to sleep, or hang up and let me go back to sleep.”

“I was traded.” 

“Oh, kid, I’m sorry. I-”

Raleigh interrupts him. “I was traded to _you_.” 

Raleigh listens impatiently as Yancy process that. “To me. To the Rangers? You were traded to the Rangers! Oh shit, who did we lose? Never mind, that’s great, Rals! You practice in the morning? Are you here?”

“I’m in a cab to your house,” Raleigh admits, looking out the window as the city passes by. “They told me after my game, had me on the next flight out. Stacker already called me and told me I could skip practice, but I have to go in to the clubhouse at some point to meet everyone and get my new uniform together. I don’t want to make a bad first impression, so I figure I’ll just go in with you.”

“You’ll do great, Rals. You always have.”

“Not since I tore up my shoulder! Yance, you guys way overpaid for me,” he says guiltily into the phone.

Yancy scoffs. “Chau’s crazy, but he’s not stupid. You’re a great pitcher. Who else would learn to pitch with their non-dominant arm to keep playing? And keep the same performance level!”

“My numbers have been shit all season, and you know it. You really didn’t influence them to take me? You said just last week I didn’t belong in the minors and now I’ve not only been recalled, but traded to your team.” 

“Because you don’t belong in the minors, but I figured I was saying that as a statement to the fact that you’d be recalled eventually, if not soon. It wasn’t weird foreshadowing.”

Raleigh nods, relieved. He hadn’t thought his brother had done something to influence the movement, but he couldn’t be sure. “Okay.”

“When do you get here?” Raleigh can hear rustling which he assumes is Yancy getting out of bed to make the guest room up.

“Twenty-five minutes.”

Yancy hums in acknowledgement. “Okay. I’ll make up your room for you. It’ll be great. Bunk together just like old times.”

Raleigh rest his forehead against the window and closes his eyes. “Thanks.”

“I’m glad you’re with us now, I am, but who did we trade?” Yancy asks hesitantly. 

“Merrit and McTighe. Cash considerations too, but I don’t know how much.”

“Jesus, okay. Okay, I’ll have the room ready when you get here.”

“I’m sorry.” 

Yancy laughs. “Raleigh, it’s not your fault. You’re going to be great here. Anyway, it could have been any of us. It’s business, after all. I’ll see you soon.”

Raleigh lets Yancy hang up this time. It’s quiet in the cab, as Raleigh watches intently out the window.

There’s maybe ten minutes left of the ride before the driver clears his throat.

“So, you play for the Rangers now?” 

“Looks that way. If I can get my numbers up. You watch baseball?”

The guy nods. “Yeah. I’m a Brewers fan, though.”

Raleigh wrinkles his nose. “I’m sorry.”

The guy laughs. “What can you do? I’ll root for you, though. Ain’t every day a major leaguer sits in the back of my cab.”

Raleigh shifts uncomfortably. “Thanks. I’ll try not to disappoint.”

The cab driver turns onto Yancy’s street and stops in front of his, somewhat ridiculously, large house. 

The cab driver turns to face him. “Don’t sweat it, kid, I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Raleigh hands over the fare, making sure to give the man a generous tip, before he gets out to grab his gear and suitcase out of the trunk. 

As he lugs it all up the front walk, the driver rolls down his window. “Good luck!”

Raleigh waves at him as he drives away, before Yancy is throwing open the door.

“Little brother!”

Raleigh drops his stuff in time for Yancy to wrap him up in a bear hug and squeeze.

“Don’t kill your new pitcher,” Raleigh says with a wince as Yancy lifts him off his feet.

Yancy lets him go abruptly, and Raleigh staggers a bit as Yancy’s ruffles his hair.

“Okay, now come in let’s go to bed. Practice bright and early.”

Yancy grabs the gear bag at his feet and leads the way inside. Raleigh follows behind him, knowing he won’t sleep at all tonight, too keyed up about tomorrow and meeting a new team. Yancy dumps what he’s carrying in the closet under the stairs where Raleigh knows Yancy keeps his own equipment when it’s at home and not at the clubhouse. 

“Your room is all set up. It’s was short notice or else I’d have some chocolates to put on your pillow like a fancy hotel.”

Raleigh rolls his eyes as he follows his brother up the stairs.

Yancy must see something in his face when they get to the top of them, ready to head to different sides of the hall. “Hey, it’s okay. You’ll be fine. You’ve done this all before, yeah? Plus, you already know some of them which will help. So try and actually get some sleep.”

Raleigh nods, but he knows that won’t happen.

Yancy claps him on the shoulder gently. “Glad to have ya, little bro.”

Raleigh watches Yancy walk away to the master bedroom, before he turns to the room he’s stayed in almost every offseason since Yancy bought the place.

\----

Raleigh is already sitting downstairs in the kitchen with a cup of coffee when Yancy stumbles down the stairs. It’s 7:27, and their clubhouse is twenty-fives minutes away.

“Good morning,” Raleigh says.

Yancy grunts in reply, fumbling for a thermos in one of the cabinets above the coffee pot. 

Raleigh waits patiently.

Yancy freezes, turning to look at him. “Huh. I thought that was a dream.”

Raleigh smirks. “You dream about me getting traded to your team? I didn’t know you missed me that much.”

Yancy rolls his eyes and returns to filling his thermos. “Laugh it up kid. You can walk to the clubhouse for all I care.”

Raleigh raises his hands in surrender, grinning. 

“Whatever. Are you ready to go?”

Raleigh drains the last of his coffee and stands up. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Yancy slings his arm around Raleigh’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be great. Just let your cool older brother show you the ropes.”

“I didn’t know we had another brother.” 

“Har har, aren’t you just the funniest. Go get your bag and get in the damn truck.”

Yancy cuffs him on the back of the head when he salutes sarcastically. While he’s still nervous, he feels a little lighter.

\----

The thing about clubhouses is that they’re eerily similar for all the ways they’re different. It always feels like he should know his way around, even though he never does. 

His plan to shadow Yancy for the day is derailed almost the second they walk through the first door. 

Stacker is coming down the hallway when they come in. “Ah, Becket, just the man I was hoping to find.”

Yancy pushes him forward. “Knock ‘em dead, bro.”

Stacker leads him to an office.

“I won’t beat around the bush, Becket. You’re a professional and you know what to do here. You’re going to be in the lineup Wednesday night. I figure that will give you sufficient time to settle in.”

Raleigh nods, though he can’t help but ask, “Sir, are you sure you don’t want to see me in practice first before you slot me in.”

“A practice environment and game environment are two different things. Just because you do well in one doesn’t mean you do well in the other, and vice versa. First game for you is on Wednesday. Now go meet the team. You aren’t expected to dress out and go through a full practice. That’ll be tomorrow.”

“Yes, coach.” 

Stacker nods. “Off you go then. Welcome to the team.”

“Thank you. Glad to be here.”

He gets a little lost, wandering around, but then Tendo is coming out of a side room and spots him. Raleigh sees a flash of what looks like a trainer’s room before the door shuts again.

“Little Becket!” Tendo says excitedly, pulling him in to a hug. “Long time, no see, man!”

Raleigh grins as Tendo lets him go. Tendo and his brother have been friends since they both came to the team, so Raleigh’s spent a fair amount of time with Tendo.

“Good to see you too, dude. I’m glad to be here. How are you? How’s Allison?”

“I’m great, man. Just living the dream. Allison is great. Still too good for me, but she hasn’t figured that out yet, thankfully.”

Raleigh laughs.

“What are you doing wandering the halls? You lost already?”

Raleigh frowns. Tendo throws an arm around his shoulder with a laugh. “Let Tendo show you around.”

Tendo does. Showing him the trainer’s room, the weight room, the tubs, and whole blur of other things Raleigh’s going to take a while to remember the location of.

“Here’s the locker room. That side is for Sasha and Mako, our lovely ladies. This side is for us nasty boys. You’re allowed on their side, but ya gotta knock first. I learned that the hard way. Despite not having an extremely fast fast-pitch, it hurts like hell when Mako throws a ball right at your head.”

Raleigh snorts. “I bet. Tell me about everyone.”

Raleigh knows distantly of the people on his brother’s team. He’s met Sasha and Aleksis a few times, but the only one on the team he really knows is Tendo.

“Mako is our best relieving pitcher. She closes out games like no one else. Sasha is our short stop. She and her husband, Aleksis, were the first married couple to be drafted together. Aleksis is our third baseman. He will brag about how Sasha went before him in the draft. He’s ridiculously proud of her and if you get him drunk, she’s all he talks about.”

Raleigh laughs, and Tendo ushers him in to the locker room. “Obviously you know Yancy. The Wei triplets are our outfielders. Mako, Chuck, and surprisingly Yancy, are the only ones that can actually tell them apart. They do everything they can to make doing so impossible from walk up songs to social media presence. I’m pretty sure they’re clones and can each play the others’ position.”

The triplets look up, all at the same time, from where they’re lacing their cleats. 

“Thanks, Tendo,” the one in the middle says with a grin.

Yancy comes up between them. “That’s Cheung. The one on his left is Jin, and the one on his right is Hu.”

Tendo makes a noise of consideration. “Are you sure? I swear Jin is on the right.”

“He’s sure,” the brothers say all together, and then laugh.

“Aleksis, say hello,” Tendo says, waving at the man in question.

“Hello younger Becket! It is good to have so many families, yes?”

Yancy pulls Raleigh into a headlock. “We’ll see about that.”

“Chuck is going to be your best friend. He’s our catcher.”

Chuck glances up at his name. “Nice to meet you.”

He then goes back to buckling his shin guards.

There’s a knock at the door behind them, and Tendo turns around to open it with a flourish. 

“Boys. I hear introduction are happening, yes?” Sasha comes in, with the pitcher that must be Mako behind her.

“Raleigh, it is good to see you again,” Sasha says with a smile, giving him a crushing hug before she goes and sits beside her husband.

Raleigh shakes the other woman’s hand when she offers it. “I am Mako.”

“Nice to meet you,” Raleigh says with a genuine smile.

She smiles at him too, before Stacker comes in.

“All right children, time to get out onto the field. Becket, why don’t you go talk to our head trainer about your routines and answer any questions he has about your history. I’ll send Herc in to get your equipment preferences while you’re in there.”

“Sounds good, coach.”

Raleigh breathes a sigh of relief when he gets out to the hallway and manages to find his way back to the trainer’s room with no difficulty. 

So far, so good.

\----

_**NEWT:** So, are you excited to have your brother on the team with you?_

_**Y. BECKET:** Oh, for sure. Raleigh and I have always gotten along really well. Plus, he’s a legitimately great pitcher, so that’s a plus for our team._

_**NEWT:** So now the Rangers have got you and your brother, all the Wei triplets, and the Kaidonovskys. _

_**Y. BECKET:** What can I say? We like to keep it in the family._

_**NEWT:** Is Raleigh going to be the victim of any pranks? I know you and Tendo are notorious for pranking your teammates. _

_**Y. BECKET:** Definitely. We’re a pretty lighthearted group. The entire clubhouse likes to get in on a prank every now and then. The triplets are good at it. They particularly like to trick the media so no one knows which brother they’re talking to._

_**NEWT:** They’ve never gotten me with that, have they?_

_**Y. BECKET:** Dude, you’re the constant target. They aren’t going to even mind that I’ve told you because they’re still going to keep doing it and you’re always going to fall for it. Guaranteed. _

_**NEWT:** Can we go back to talking about how excited you are to prank Raleigh, please?_

[Photo: Y. Becket in the foreground, grinning. R. Becket asleep in the background, clearly in the passenger seat of a truck. Photo credit: Instagram, **bestbecket21**. Caption: missed you too baby bro **@r.becket27**

 **r.becket27:** you’re not funny  
**tendbro14:** #adorbs  
**mori.mako.:** I hope you were not driving when you took this.]

\----

Raleigh gets the impression, through his first practices, that Chuck doesn’t like him very much. 

His first game is a bad showing if he’s trying to impress his new team. He gives up six runs and gets pulled in the fourth inning for Mako, who finishes out the game but the team can’t get it back after that. Chuck doesn’t even come out to the mound to send him off when he gets hooked.

Mako smiles at him in the parking lot after the game. “You will do better next time. It takes time to adjust.”

Yancy says the same in the truck on the way home.

It doesn’t make Raleigh feel any better.

\----

He’s been with the team for two weeks now, and they’re going on the road in two days. It’ll be his first road trip with them, and Raleigh is supposed to pitch in the first game of the series.

Raleigh curses when the ball goes wide again, and Chuck has to chase it down to the backstop.

Chuck rips his mask off once he has the ball gripped tightly in his hand. “Hey, wanker, you want to try and throw over the plate?”

“I am trying! You think I’m not trying?”

“That’s right, mate. I think you’re wasting all of our time right now if you aren’t going to take this shit seriously.”

“I’m taking it seriously. I’m out here aren’t I?”

Chuck scoffs. “That’s all you are. You keep locking up your fucking arm. Get it together.”

Chuck has paced several feet out passed home towards the mound. Raleigh takes a few steps forward to match.

“If your so knowledgeable about what it takes to pitch, why don’t we trade places, huh? I can squat behind the bag and make snide comments just as well as you can.”

Their teammates have stopped what they’re doing to listen to them shout at each other. Raleigh hadn’t realized how loud they were until the field goes quiet around them.

“I’m trying to fucking help you, you giant prick. You’re locking up your arm when you throw and it’s going wide. Loosen up and pitch over the Goddamn plate like you’re paid to do. You could be our fucking ace like you’re supposed to be if you’d just pull your head out of your ass!”

“Gentlemen, that’s enough!” Stacker says, stepping in between them and glaring them both down. “Go for your cool downs.”

Chuck bends and grabs his mask from the dirt before stalking off the field. Raleigh watches him go, still fuming at the idea that he’s not trying. That he’s just out here for the hell of it. He pulls his hat down low and stares at his feet as he leaves the field.

He can hear Stacker yelling as he leaves.

“Everybody else, get back to work! We’re on the road in two days.”

Raleigh sits in his stall, keeping his head down and staring at the ground between his feet. He sits there as his teammates file through, conversations hushed, to the showers and their own cool down routines. He doesn't look up until the room goes quiet again and a pair of cleats appear in front of him.

Mako smiles at him gently. "May I sit?"

Raleigh shrugs, then nods.

She sits beside him and it's quiet around them.

"He is right you know."

"That I'm not trying?"

Mako snorts. "If that were the case, we would not be friends. No, you're locking up your arm as you throw. Your follow through is not fluid."

He blows air out his nose unhappily. "I know. I know he's right. He didn't have to pick me apart in front of our entire team, though."

She shrugs. "Maybe not, but you will remember now. He went about it poorly, but he did truly want to help. He is not very good at being constructively critical."

"Tell me about it."

She stands up. "You will get better."

She says it like an order before she smiles at him again and walks away.

He sighs, before he starts stripping out of his practice uniform and changing into his normal clothes. 

Yancy eventually appears, freshly showered, with his bag slung over his shoulder.

Raleigh trips over himself in his haste to stand and just get home for the day.

Yancy is quiet on the way, though he keeps glancing at Raleigh out of the corner of his eye. 

"I don't want to talk about it," Raleigh says defensively.

"I wasn't asking," Yancy replies easily.

Raleigh glares out the window.

"So... When are you two going to fuck?"

"Oh my god, Yancy!" Raleigh hides his face in his hands as Yancy laughs.

\----

Raleigh had every intention of sitting next to Yancy on the plane, but when they get on, Tendo grabs Yancy by the arm and pulls him down into the seat next to him. "Move along, smaller Becket. He's mine today. You’ve been hogging him since you got here."

Raleigh looks at them suspiciously, but doesn't protest. "You can have him." 

Raleigh watches them huddle together to look at the IPad Tendo has. Raleigh leaves them to it, though they're probably up to no good. He foresees a prank in the near future, that’s for sure. He continues down the aisle and picks a random row. As he settles into the window seat, Mako stops by the open aisle seat. 

“May I sit?” She gestures at the chair next to him.

He nods, smiling at her as she gets comfortable in her seat.

“Are you excited for the trip?”

Raleigh shrugs. “Excited isn’t exactly the word I’d use. Nervous. I can’t pitch for a home crowd, how do I do it in someone else’s ballpark?”

Mako shrugs. “You will figure it out. You are good. You just need to find the right headspace.” 

Raleigh hums. Chuck is passing in the aisle, bag slung over his shoulder.

“Hey, Chuck?”

Chuck pauses. He doesn’t look openly hostile, so Raleigh takes the chance. 

“Do you mind taking extra pitches after practice tomorrow? The two of us?”

Chuck looks surprised, but nods gamely. “Sure, mate. Anything to help the team, yeah?”

Mako smiles at Chuck, then at Raleigh. 

It’s something.

\----

Extra pitches go about as well as practice ever does.

“You’re still locking up your arm!” Chuck snaps unhappily, sweat dripping down his brow behind his mask.

“I’m trying!”

“You want to know what I think, mate?”

Raleigh growls in frustration. “I don’t, but I’m sure you’ll tell me anyway.”

“I think the whole thing is in your head. You hurt your arm, and it took you out of the game for a bit. Now you’re all, boo who, woe is me. You can throw fine. I would bet my salary that you can pitch with the arm you think is fucked.”

Raleigh goes cold. “You think I’m faking the problem in my shoulder.”

Chuck stands up. “I think you got hurt, and I think now you feel like you can’t pitch because you couldn’t right after. Now, you have some mental hang-ups, and you’re becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy or some shit. I think you can do better. I know you can do better, but you’re not fucking trying.”

Raleigh storms off the field after that. Fuck him, if he thinks Raleigh isn’t trying. Fuck him.

\----

Stacker halts Raleigh in the lobby of the hotel before holding out a keycard. Raleigh recognizes one of the bags at Stacker’s feet as his own. “You have a roommate, now.”

Raleigh shrugs. He always had one in the minors anyway. “Okay.”

“Ah, there he is right there. Hansen! Get your ass over here.”

Raleigh tries not to groan out loud.

“Here’s your new room assignment. 437. You and Becket. You’ll get your own rooms again when I think you can both get along.”

Chuck is oddly silent, looking at the hotel keycard in his hand.

Stacker grins. “Glad we have that settled. If you’ll excuse me gentlemen, I think I’ll go check out what they have at the restaurant here.” 

Raleigh watches after him, hoping maybe he’ll turn around and say ‘Gotcha!’. This must have been what Yancy and Tendo were planning, right?

Stacker doesn’t turn around, and eventually Raleigh sighs and hefts his duffel. “Let’s go.”

Chuck follows behind him quietly. Raleigh is honestly starting to worry about the kid a little. He’s never, in the time Raleigh has been here, stayed quiet for this long.

He’s quiet in the elevator.

He’s quiet in the hall.

He’s quiet as Raleigh slips the key into the slot and the light blinks green to let them in. 

They look into the room, standing shoulder to shoulder in the open doorway.

“I call the bed by the window,” Chuck says, brushing passed Raleigh and into the room. 

Raleigh opens his mouth to argue, but decides against it, throwing his bag onto the closer bed. Chuck disappears into the bathroom while Raleigh is still digging for his toiletries. 

When Raleigh himself is finished in the bathroom, he expects to come back out and Chuck will be in bed, either asleep or pretending to be, so they don’t have to talk to one another. Instead, Chuck is sitting up, playing around on his phone.

Raleigh climbs into his own bed.

“I set an alarm already,” Chuck says without looking at Raleigh. 

“Okay.”

Chuck puts his phone on the bedside table, plugging it in to charge overnight. 

“I’m not going to apologize,” Chuck says suddenly.

Before Raleigh can get righteously angry, Chuck continues.

“I won’t apologize when I’m not wrong. Mako pointed out that I could have probably offered advice in a better way, though, and I realize that’s probably true.”

Raleigh snorts. “No shit.”

Chuck scowls at the dark screen of the television. “You know, you’re the reason I became a catcher.”

Raleigh stares at the side of his head.

“Yeah, mate, you were my fucking idol. When you got drafted, I was going into my sophomore year of high school. I was going out for the baseball team. Before that, I had been alternating pretty evenly between catcher and first base. I was good at both, yeah? But my old man said that in high school I’d have to pick one and stick with it. Then you got drafted, and more than anything, I wanted to catch for you.”

Raleigh chokes on a laugh because Chuck is trying to be honest with him, but come on.

Chuck goes bright red. “Not like that, ya wanker. Anyway, by the time I was drafted, you’d been in your accident and I figured I’d never get the chance. I was going to have to settle for the older Becket. Then you got traded, and I figured I couldn’t be so lucky.”

“Did I live up to all your expectations?” Raleigh asks, trying not to sound as bitter as he feels.

Chuck looks at him for a long minute, before smiling. Raleigh gets caught in that smile, and the dimples on his cheeks. “Let’s just say I’d be willing to catch for you in more ways than one now.”

Raleigh blushes. Now, all he can think about is Chuck spread out across the sheets for him. “Even when I lock up my arm and don’t throw over the plate?”

Chuck laughs, before he reaches over and turns off the lamp between them, plunging the room into darkness. 

“Even then, mate.”

\----

_**NEWT:** I hear there's some tension between you and Raleigh._

_**HANSEN:** I don't see how it's any of your business. _

_**NEWT:** So you don't like your pitcher._

_**HANSEN:** Now, just how the **** did you arrive at that conclusion? I like Raleigh. He's a great pitcher. He's going to be a key player for us. He just gets caught up in his head, like we all do, but it's easier to see that in your pitchers, yeah? If I get caught in my head I fumble the ball a little, no big deal. A pitcher does that and batters walk. They take a lot of heat. It's a damn team sport, ain't it? But you media ******** don't latch onto our mistakes like you do his._

_**NEWT:** I guess I see the point. So you like Raleigh. _

_**HANSEN:** I like Raleigh. Do you need me to hug him or something to prove it?_

_**NEWT:** Well now that you mention it..._

[Photo: R. Becket looking uncomfortable as Hansen hugs him, staring directly into the camera. Photo credit: Instagram, **bestbecket21**. Caption: good to see the kids getting along. 

**tendbro14:** #goals  
**sasha-kaidonovsky:** обожаемый  
**aleksis-kaidonovsky:** best friends )))  
**r.becket27:** you're still not funny  
**officialhansen24:** wtf tendo]

\----

The teams record gets better.

Raleigh gets better. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he thinks Chuck shouting at him about all his failings was the kind of kick he needed. As Raleigh gets more games in the win column, Chuck eases up on his tendency to call him out and nit-pick every bad pitch. 

Raleigh wins three games in a row, and Chuck buys him a beer when they go out to celebrate with the team. 

They’re still sharing a room on the road, and Raleigh doesn’t know if Stacker forgot he’d altered the room arrangements, or if he thinks they could be friendlier than they are. 

To be honest, though, Raleigh stopped minding the second night. Chuck’s good company, and he’s funny when he’s not yelling at Raleigh. 

Chuck likes to hog the TV remote, but they get by. 

Raleigh imagines if they actually had an issue, they could get Stacker to change it.

Neither of them ask Stacker to make that change. 

\----

They’re on the road. They’ve had almost a month of straight away games, that comes to an end when this series is finished. Raleigh’s tired. Hell, the whole team is tired. 

It’s only the second inning. Raleigh has already given up two runs and walked another batter. He’s breathing into his glove to try and collect himself when Chuck waves off the batter and gestures to the umpire for a time-out. He jogs out to the mound, holding his mask in his hand.

“Calm down, Raleigh. You’ve fucking got this. I know you do, yeah?” 

Raleigh is stuck on that. Chuck, with his damn dimples who told him in only their second week of knowing each other that his hangs ups were in his head, and then said with no reservations that he’d let Raleigh fuck him, seems to completely believe in him.

He’s glad his glove is still over his mouth when he opens it and blurts, “Let me take you out.”

Well. At least the cameras won’t catch it.

Chuck looks at him like he’s crazy. “What?”

Raleigh goes with it. “Let me take you to dinner. Like, a date.”

Chuck is still staring at him.

“Hurry it up, gentlemen,” the home base umpire calls out impatiently. 

Chuck shakes his head a little, looking at the scoreboard like he needs a reminder of where he is. He puts his mask on over his head before he says, “How about this, you win this game, and I’ll let you take me to dinner.”

Chuck returns to his spot behind home plate and squats down. He nods at Raleigh, who nods back, and the batter steps into the box.

Suddenly they’re in the seventh, and they’re up by two. Their turn to bat, and this will probably be the last inning Raleigh plays in. 

“Don’t fuck this up for me Raleigh, I’m craving steak,” Chuck says quietly as Raleigh walks up the stairs to stand on-deck. 

The opposing team’s pitcher walks Aleksis. The bases are loaded, and there’s only one out.

Raleigh takes the box.

The first ball goes by him.

Strike one.

He fouls off the second down the third base line.

Strike two.

Raleigh puts a hand up and steps back out of the box. 

“Come on, Rals,” Yancy calls out from the dugout.

Raleigh breathes out and steps back into the box.

The pitcher winds up.

Raleigh swings. It connects with a loud crack, splitting the bat down the handle and it comes apart in his hand. He stands frozen for a second, watching the ball fly, before it disappears behind the centerfield wall, out of the park.

He takes the bases in a daze. Cheung scores, then Sasha, then Aleksis. 

He steps on home and Sasha sweeps him up into a big hug. 

“Good job, little Becket!”

Aleksis high-fives him with enough force that he has to shake his hand out.

The dug out is loud when he goes down to accept his accolades. 

Yancy pulls him into a hug and messes up his hair. “Way to go, little brother!”

He gets free of Yancy just for Tendo to do the same. “Smaller Becket, look at you!”

Chuck looks at him, eyes heated, when Raleigh is finally released to stand in front of him. “First career home-run.” 

Raleigh grins, unsurprised that Chuck knows his stats. “Not bad, huh?” 

“Still gotta get the win though, mate.”

Raleigh shrugs. “No problem. I got this.”

Chuck smiles, dimples and all. “Yeah, you do.”

They win the game 9-3.

Herc finds him after the game and drops a ball into his hand.

“Figure you’ll want that. For a shadowbox or something, hell if I know. I think Chuck keeps his mementos in the guest room.”

Raleigh looks at the ball in his hand. 

“Thanks, Herc. Hey, what about the bat I hit it with? The broken one.”

Herc smiles and gestures over his shoulder. “Held on to that too, just in case you wanted it.”

Raleigh takes them both home. He figures he’ll find something to do with them.

\----

Chuck and Raleigh agree that they’ll wait until they’re back for the next homestand to get dinner. They have two more games in this series before then. So he has three more days to figure out where they’re going to go.

“I have expensive taste, Raleigh,” Chuck tells him seriously one morning while they’re stretching out before practice, off to the side so they can talk without being overheard. 

Raleigh rolls his eyes.

“I want the kind of restaurant we need reservations for and have to be dressed up to even walk in.”

Raleigh scoffs, looking at Chuck. He doesn’t think he’s doing a good job of not looking fond. “You want to dress up. You don’t even like having to wear game day suits.”

“Yeah, I don’t. But I sure as shit like looking at you in yours,” Chuck says with a smirk, standing up and pulling his mask down. “Not that I mind looking at your ass in your uniform pants, either.”

Raleigh stares after him as he saunters away. If his gaze is fixed somewhere in the vicinity of Chuck’s ass, well, Chuck was asking for it.

Faced with dating uncertainty, he does what any little brother would do.

“Hey, Yancy?” Raleigh starts as Yancy drives them home from the airport. They’ve just gotten home from their road trip, and now Raleigh has only a few hours to choose a place. He’s supposed to pick Chuck up at seven.

“Hey yeah?”

“Do you know any good steakhouses around here?”

Yancy shrugs. “Yeah, I know a few.”

“Which one would you take a date to?”

“Depends on what kind of date I’m on.”

“Which one is the nicest?”

Yancy glances over at him with a grin. “That kind of date, huh? Sounds serious. When do I get to meet them?”

Raleigh grimaces uncomfortably. “Let me get one date out of the way before you embarrass me. I don’t know how serious it is.”

“You want it to be.”

Raleigh hesitates before he nods. “I want it to be. So, let me see how this goes, see what he has to say, and figure it out from there.”

“’He’?” 

Raleigh shrugs. “Yeah.”

Yancy hums. “Interesting.”

Raleigh groans. “Please leave it alone for now. I just need to know which steakhouse to try.”

Yancy shakes his head, but gestures to his phone in the cup holder.

“Number’s in there if you want to try for a reservation. You’ll probably have to do some begging, but tell them I sent you and you might be able to get a table.”

Raleigh smiles gratefully and calls the number.

\----

Chuck looks gratifyingly impressed when they walk in.

The hostess smiles at them. “Name?”

“Becket.”

She grabs two menus. “Right this way, Mr. Becket.”

“Is this what you wanted?” Raleigh asks smugly after the hostess leaves them at their table, cozily tucked in a corner. There’s an actual candle and all.

Chuck looks up from the menu. “It’s not bad.”

Raleigh grins because Chuck is clearly lying. He’ll have to thank Yancy if everything goes as well as it seems like it will.

Chuck rolls his eyes, but smiles. Raleigh didn’t ever think he’d be the kind to become short of breath over a damn smile, but here he is, watching the candle light flicker over Chuck’s face and finding it hard to breathe.

Dinner is nice. Dinner is great, in fact. At one point, they’re laughing so loud Raleigh worries they’re going to get kicked out.

Raleigh parks out in front of Chuck’s place when it’s all over. Chuck looks over at him, almost coy, as Raleigh turns the car off.

“I had a nice time.”

Raleigh smiles at him. “I did too.”

Chuck undoes his seatbelt so he can lean over the console and into Raleigh’s space.

“I’d invite you in,” Chuck says quietly, “but we should take this slow. I would hate to mess up our dynamic on the team with this.”

Raleigh sighs. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

Chuck leans in and kisses him carefully. “Thanks for dinner.”

Raleigh nods. “Anytime.”

Chuck smiles, kissing him again. Raleigh doesn’t mean to deepen it, honest, but Chuck is right there and responsive. He can’t help himself.

Eventually Chuck pulls himself away slowly. “Seriously, mate, you’re killing me. Slow. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Raleigh nods, watching as Chuck opens the door. Before he gets out of the car, he darts in quick for one more kiss and then he’s gone.

Raleigh drives home in high spirits.

Yancy is lounging on the couch in his pajamas when he comes in.

“That good, huh?” Yancy says, clearly seeing something on Raleigh’s face.

Raleigh shrugs, but can’t stop the dumb grin from spreading across his face. “It was pretty good.”

“You’re home early for pretty good, then.”

“We’re taking it slow. It’s for the best, really.”

Yancy snorts. “Whatever you say. Congrats bro.”

Raleigh goes upstairs so he can change, and then settles in to watch TV with Yancy. Overall, it’s the best evening he’s had in a while.

\----

Chuck picks the stationary bike next to Raleigh’s before practice the following morning.

“So, you should let me do dinner for you, now. That’s how this goes, right?”

Raleigh looks over at Chuck.

“Beat me in sprints today, and I’ll let you do dinner for me.”

Chuck stares at him, before he grins. “You’re on, mate.”

Chuck, unsurprisingly, beats him at sprints. 

\----

Chuck’s dinner has to wait until they finish their first three home games of the series before they have a day game that allows for them to do a nice dinner. 

They win the game, and Raleigh trails after Chuck into the parking lot while he waits for Yancy to finish goofing around with Tendo. It could be awhile. His hope is, in that time, Chuck will give him more details.

Chuck doesn’t tell him much, just to show up at his apartment at seven and bring a nice bottle of wine.

“Do I need to dress nice?”

Chuck shrugs, then pats him on the chest. “There’s no dress code for my apartment, mate.”

Raleigh looks at him. “Are you cooking for me?” 

Chuck shrugs again. “Maybe I’m ordering us shitty take-out. See you tonight.”

Raleigh doesn’t think that’s the case, but before he can try and interrogate further, Yancy and Tendo are coming out to the truck. Chuck grins, and waves as he gets into his own car.

“Tendo’s coming over for a bit,” Yancy says unnecessarily. 

“Shotgun,” Tendo calls, relegating Raleigh into the back. 

Raleigh would be more annoyed if he wasn’t trying to figure out what he should wear and what kind of wine he should get.

He goes home where he waits with anxious anticipation until it’s time for him to go.

Yancy and Tendo are in the kitchen arguing about something on a laptop screen when Raleigh walks through to get his keys.

Tendo whistles. “Got a big date, I hear. You’re looking sharp.”

Raleigh smiles. “Thanks. I’m heading out. Have fun doing whatever you’re doing.”

He wanders around in the wine aisles of the liquor store hopelessly. He doesn’t know anything about wine. 

“Can I help you find something, sir?” 

Raleigh turns to look at the woman, holding two bottles of wine uncertainly. 

“I don’t even know what I’m looking for, to be honest. I was just told to pick up something for dinner.”

She takes pity on him. “Do you know what you’re having?”

He shakes his head, and she tuts, before leading him to a shelf of bottles. “These are you best shot.”

He picks one at random, and smiles at her gratefully. “Thank you so much.”

Raleigh takes a minute to fix his hair in the mirror before he gets out of the car. Chuck opens the door while leaning down to hold the collar of a bulldog.

“Who is this?” Raleigh asks, dropping down so he can pet the dog and get slobbered on in the process.

“This is Max. Come on, Max, let the nice man in.”

Max backs up amiably, having thoroughly investigated Raleigh and deemed him acceptable. 

Raleigh finally looks at Chuck, who’s wearing a button-down shirt with the sleeves pushed up and an honest to god apron. 

Raleigh brandishes the bottle of wine like a weapon as he stands up. 

Chuck takes it, letting Raleigh in while he looks at the label critically. 

"Is it okay?" Raleigh asks, drifting towards the kitchen where something smells amazing. Max trails after him.

"It'll do," Chuck says, shutting the door.

"Well you wouldn't tell me what we were having so I didn’t know what kind of wine would pair best. I did my best with what limited knowledge I had."

Chuck raises an eyebrow skeptically. "What do you know about wine pairings?"

"Absolutely nothing, but the lady at the store did," Raleigh admits sheepishly.

Chuck laughs. "You're cute, mate."

Chuck brushes a kiss against his lips before he grabs Raleigh's hand and pulls him into the kitchen.

"Holy shit, Chuck," Raleigh says, looking at how he's set the table and the food on the plates.

"It's nothing too impressive. Just salmon," Chuck replies, looking both pleased and embarrassed.

"It's extremely impressive. I caught the spaghetti I was trying to make on fire last week. Chuck, this is great."

"You haven't even tasted it yet. Wine?"

Raleigh nods as he sits down. "Yes please."

Chuck pulls his apron off before opening the bottle and pouring them each a glass. He settles down at the table, and looks at Raleigh expectantly. Max sits patiently down on the floor between them.

Raleigh practically inhales his food.

"This is really good, Chuck," Raleigh says again because it never fails to make Chuck smile down at his plate.

Raleigh loves his stupid smile.

When they're finished, Raleigh stands with Chuck at the sink and helps with the dishes. Raleigh looks at the suds, then at Chuck, before he grabs a handful and flings them at Chuck. Max barks excitedly, chasing the suds that hit the floor.

"Oi!" Chuck exclaims, ducking a few seconds too late.

Raleigh laughs as Chuck retaliates. 

Cleaning up the mess they make of the kitchen is well worth listening to Chuck laugh.

Chuck runs his fingers through Raleigh's hair as they're watching TV afterwards. Raleigh leans in to it with a sigh.

"Thanks again for dinner," Raleigh says.

"Anytime, mate."

"You're going to regret saying that."

Chuck presses a kiss into Raleigh's temple. "Pretty sure I'm not. If I could keep you here I would, so if dinner is all it takes for you to stay."

Raleigh kisses him, and Chuck threads his fingers through Raleigh's hair.

Raleigh ends up with Chuck in his lap, and he has to pull away from Chuck's eager mouth reluctantly. 

"Going slow?" Raleigh clarifies breathlessly.

Chuck groans unhappily, resting his forehead on Raleigh's.

"Going slow." 

"Then I should probably go." 

Chuck nods but makes no move to get up. "Probably."

"Now who's killing who?"

Chuck gets up with an exaggerated frown. "Fine."

Chuck and Max both walk him to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow at practice," Raleigh says, leaning in for one last kiss.

"Tomorrow. Goodnight, Raleigh."

"Goodnight Chuck."

\----

_**NEWT:** So, you guys are on something a streak right now._

_**CHOI:** It’s great. We’re a good team, it just took us some time to get in our groove._

_**NEWT:** You all seem to be in pretty high spirits. _

_**CHOI:** We like to have fun just like anyone else._

_**NEWT:** Between the two of us, was it you that changed Hansen’s walk-up song?_

_**CHOI:** His face was priceless, wasn’t it? I may have had something to do with it, but I had some help. Our equipment manager, Herc, thought it was pretty funny, so he slipped in the CD for us._

_**NEWT:** It’s always good to have friends in high places._

_**CHOI:** Don’t I know it._

[Photo: Hansen holding up a CD with a scowl in the Rangers locker room. Tendo and Herc on either side of him, grinning. Photo credit: Instagram, **tendbro14**. Caption: we’ll never give you up bro

 **bestbecket21:** #rickrolled  
**officialhansen24:** just you wait, Elvis  
**r.becket27:** that was a pretty good one  
**aleksis-kaidonovsky:** is good music!  
**weithe8:** you would think so **@aleksis-kaidonovsky** ]

\----

The season keeps going. They’re climbing in the standings, but it’s slow going. 

Chuck and Raleigh keep betting each other for dates. It’s probably weird, but it works for them.

They’re still sharing a room on the road. It tests their resolve on the whole ‘going slow’ thing they’ve both agreed on, but they’re hanging on. 

They’ll watch tv together at night, make out a little, but don’t go beyond that. 

They never share a bed.

“That’s just asking for wandering hands, mate,” Chuck says one night when Raleigh clings so he can’t get up and move into his own bed.

Raleigh complains half-heartedly, knowing that Chuck is right. Raleigh understands why Chuck wants to be careful. Hell, he wants to be careful too. The team needs them to be a unit. The beginning of the season is proof enough how bad things can be when they’re out of sync. They have to be sure. Raleigh lets him climb out from under the covers and into the other bed.

“I’ll make it worth the wait,” Chuck promises once the light is off and they’re safely separated. 

“You’re going to kill me,” Raleigh says seriously. 

Chuck laughs. “Goodnight, Raleigh.”

\----

Raleigh is talking to Yancy in the dugout, with half his eye on Chuck in the batter’s box, so he sees the pitch that practically brushes against Chuck’s shirt. Raleigh sits up straighter and turns towards the plate. Chuck didn’t move back, in fact, he didn’t flinch at all. Raleigh glances towards the mound and curses quietly. 

Yancy turns to look out and then looks back at Raleigh. 

“What?”

“Pitcher is going to hit him.” 

“What?”

“Knife’s going to hit him. Chuck didn’t move away from the plate with the brush-back. He’s asking to be hit.”

Their teammates around them also turn towards the plate. The pitch heads right for Chuck, hitting him in the shoulder with an audible thump. The dugout goes quiet, watching Chuck. Chuck grins at the pitcher, before tossing his bat towards their dugout and taking the walk to first.

“He taunted him into getting a walk,” Yancy says, impressed.

Raleigh scowls out at the field. “Where are they at in their batting order?”

Yancy turns to him. “Don’t even think about it.”

Raleigh crosses his arms over his chest and leans back into the bench. They get two runs, one being Chuck, before they’re back out on the field.

Chuck climbs down into the dugout, testing his shoulder with a wince. 

“Are you okay?” Raleigh asks quietly, glove over his mouth.

“I’m fine. We got a run out of it, at least.” Chuck grins at him, before he goes back to putting on his equipment. 

Chuck’s still rolling his shoulder around when they walk out onto the field together, and Raleigh. Well, Raleigh’s never been good at picking his fights or letting things go.

Their pitcher is the second batter up. From here, Raleigh can see just how big the guy is.

Raleigh looks right at him before he throws.

The ball connects with his upper arm, and then everything is chaos. Knife drops his bat and storms towards the mound. Raleigh gladly drops his glove into the dirt, and meets him halfway. Players are pouring out of the Kaiju dugout and the rest of the Rangers are moving in to meet them.

The first punch thrown connects with Raleigh’s mouth, and he can feel his lip split. He holds his own a little better after that. At some point, Chuck is by his side, throwing wild punches and grinning the whole time. Raleigh knows the stadium must be going wild, but he can’t hear any of it. 

Eventually, Stacker is on the field, pulling them apart with the help of Tendo and Yancy. Yancy has a cut above his eyebrow, and Tendo is already bruising around his eye. 

The umpires are huddled together. As soon as they’re separated out, the umpires are waving Stacker over. 

That’s how Raleigh gets ejected for the first time in his career. 

Stacker is furious, in that quiet way of his, watching as Raleigh and Chuck take the walk of shame down into the visitor locker room. 

Chuck grins at him. “Thanks for that, mate. Most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

Raleigh shrugs. “Anytime. Can’t let them walk all over us.”

They’re sitting in the trainer’s room, letting Hermann fuss over them, when the game ends and Stacker comes in, frowning.

He stands there, glaring at them both, before he crosses his arms over his chest. “Gentlemen, do you want to tell me what that was all about?” 

Raleigh shrugs, before hissing when Hermann dabs at his lip with antiseptic. 

“I was just defending my roomie, coach.”

Chuck nods. “Roommates have to stick together.”

Raleigh gently bumps the offered fist with his own as Stacker throws his arms up in exasperation. 

\----

_Rangers P Raleigh Becket and C Chuck Hansen have each received a two-game suspension for their role in the brawl that occurred in the seventh inning of their 14-7 win against the Kaiju on Thursday night. Kaiju P Knife Henderson received four games for his involvement in the fight and for the play that preceded the whole incident. Kaiju SS Leather Backes has received one game._

_Rangers’ 3B Aleksis Kaidonovsky: It is fun, yes? Always good to stand up for team. Knife hit Chuck, and I think, we fight, but Chuck just smile, take base. I think, okay, no big deal. His shoulder was hurting him though, we all see, so Raleigh answer back. Is only fair, yes?_

_Rangers P Mako Moir, who relieved Becket after his ejection: It was a reckless decision, but it is part of the game. Every pitcher knows if you hit a batter, you invite a retaliation. I was not surprised to be called into the game early, no._

_Both team coaches failed to offer up a comment on the incident._

[Photo: R. Becket’s lip, split, with prominent stitches as he smiles lopsidedly at the camera. Photo credit: Instagram, **r.becket27**. Caption: 5 stitches later #stillthehandsombecket

 **tendbro14:** hot  
**bestbecket21:** someone needs to teach you how to throw punch, bro  
**weithe7:** nice  
**weithe8:** nice  
**weithe9:** nice  
**officialhansen24:** jesus christ]

\----

Once their suspension is up, and they’re back on the road with the team, they have single rooms again.

Raleigh and Chuck stand together at the counter after getting their keys.

“Guess we’ve earned our own rooms again,” Chuck says in the elevator up.

“Guess so.”

Raleigh feels weird, walking to a room on his own as Chuck stops off nearly at the other end of the hallway by the elevator they just got off. 

Raleigh tries to sleep. He has a game tomorrow, but the room feels off without Chuck in it. He could go down to Chuck’s room. He knows that some of the team crash together occasionally. He could definitely get away with it. Sasha and Mako spend one night of every road trip together for girls’ time. No one would even question it.

He’ll never admit it, not to the rest of the team at least, but he’s not sure he can sleep in the hotel room without Chuck, now. As he’s considering biting the bullet and heading down to Chuck’s room and the inevitable mockery, someone knocks on his door.

“Thank God,” Raleigh says to Chuck once he’s pulled open the door. 

Chuck snorts, dropping his duffel on the floor by Raleigh’s as he comes in.

“I figure I’d rather sleep than stare at the ceiling all night.”

Chuck, already in his pajamas, face plants into the unrumpled side of the bed with a relieved groan. 

Raleigh climbs in after him.

“No funny business,” Raleigh warns, sliding in under the covers. 

“Just sleeping, mate. Taking it slow.”

Raleigh snorts, as Chuck leans over him to turn the lamp off. “How could I forget?”

Chuck drops down onto Raleigh, and he can feel Chuck’s smirk against his neck.

The next road trip, Stacker hands them their keys. “You could have asked to share, instead of wasting club funds.”

They watch him walk away, slightly uncomfortable, before Chuck laughs a little. 

“Guess that fixes that.”

Raleigh guesses so.

They still share a bed the way they had been when they were separated.

“We’re mature enough to keep our hands to ourselves,” Raleigh says, as much for himself as for Chuck. 

Chuck burrows into his side agreeably. 

“It’s a good way to test my self-control, that’s for sure,” Chuck says on a yawn.

Raleigh laughs and turns out the light.

\----

[Video: Hansen running away down the hotel hallway while R. Becket laughs behind the camera. Tendo can be heard yelling as a trashcan of water leans against his hotel door so he can't open it. Video credit: Instagram, **officialhansen24**. Caption: always stick with the classics #paybacksabitch #rickastleywho

 **bestbecket21:** i can't believe the kids got you with that **@tendbro14**  
**tendbro14:** ya know, I can't either #noonelikeswetsocks  
**allison.choi:** I can. You’re easy to get, hun.  
**r.becket27:** Allison’s here to keep you honest **@tendbro14** ]

\----

Raleigh is on his way out the door, headed for Chuck’s and the promised dinner waiting for him there.

Yancy looks up from the stove. “I guess I’ll be eating all by myself. Again.”

Raleigh grabs his keys. “You’re a big boy. You’ll be okay.”

“You know, you said one date, and I’d get to meet him. It’s been a fair more than one now, Rals. Do I ever get to meet this guy or what?” Yancy’s teasing him, he knows, but there’s some little note of hurt underneath it.

Raleigh freezes. They haven’t talked about it. About telling anyone. They’re still taking things slow, physically, but Chuck told him he loved him last week while they were just sitting on the coach. They’re probably passed testing it out and well into serious territory.

“I’ll talk to him tonight.”

Yancy nods and goes back to the stove. “I won’t embarrass you or scare him. Much.”

Raleigh thinks about the best way to bring it up on the drive over. 

Chuck opens the door with a soft smile, Max toddling around his feet, and Raleigh does what he does best: blurts out a half-formed thought when confronted with Chuck’s face.

“Do you want to meet my brother?”

Chuck lets him in to the apartment. “Think we’ve met, mate.”

“No. I mean, yes, but I want to tell him about us.”

Chuck nods slowly, leading him in to the kitchen. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Chuck sits down and picks up his fork. Raleigh does the same.

“Of course, mate. I’d like to introduce you to my father, if I could. You know that means the whole team is going to know by the end of the day, though, right? I mean, Yancy will have to tell Tendo, and my old man will tell Stacker for sure. It’ll just spiral from there.”

Raleigh sighs. “Yeah, I know. I don’t care about the team knowing. Hell, it’d make things a lot easier in the long run. I just don’t want it to get out to the media. It’s none of their business, and that’s all they’ll ever ask us about if we go public during the season.”

Chuck shrugs. “So we tell the team, and trust that they’ll respect our privacy. We’ll tell Yancy and my old man first. God knows they’d never forgive us if they found out with the rest of the team. Then we tell Stacks. Control it as much as we can. Team only meeting. The whole bit.”

Raleigh smiles at him helplessly.

Chuck looks up from his plate.

“What?”

Raleigh shakes his head. “Nothing. I love you. You know that right?”

Chuck smiles, eyes bright. “Yeah, I know. Back at ya.”

\----

Chuck is adorably flustered and nervous as Raleigh lets him in to the house. He’s holding a bottle of wine in a white knuckled grip.

“What if he doesn’t like me?” Chuck hisses as Raleigh leads him towards the backyard where Yancy is grilling dinner for the three of them.

Raleigh laughs. “He knows you already. He likes you fine.”

“As his team’s catcher! Not as his baby brother’s boyfriend.”

Yancy glances up when Raleigh opens the patio door, and pauses.

“Fuck. I should have known,” Yancy says after a second, before he laughs. “Get out here, Chuck.”

Chuck walks out slowly, handing Yancy the bottle of wine before looking at Raleigh desperately.

Raleigh steps up next to him, and Chuck leans heavily into his side.

“I know this isn’t a prank because Chuck looks like he’s ready to bolt if this goes bad. Man, for having called this two weeks in, I’m still shocked.”

Raleigh blushes as Chuck looks curiously between the two of them.

“He asked when we were going to fuck after we argued at practice,” Raleigh explains, cheeks burning.

Chuck barks out a laugh, before he gestures towards the grill.

“How can I help?”

Yancy waves him away with a pair of tongs. “I’ve got it. You can let Raleigh show you where the wine glasses are, and we can open this bottle. Next time though, you’ll have to cook dinner. All I’ve heard about for months is how great your cooking is, though of course I didn’t know it was you at the time.”

Raleigh rolls his eyes as Chuck smirks at him. 

“Come on,” Raleigh says, picking up the bottle of wine and taking it back into the kitchen.

“So far, so good,” Chuck says, glancing back out at Yancy suspiciously. “Is he taking this too well?”

Raleigh shrugs. “He’s a pretty chill guy. It’s hard to throw him off. He’s always been the ‘if you’re happy, I’m happy’ type.”

Chuck nods, looking less tense. 

Yancy brings in the ribs he was grilling and sets the plate on the table. “This isn’t anything fancy. Help yourself.”

Dinner is fairly normal. It’s nothing they haven’t done before at the team meals. 

Yancy waits until they’re nearly done eating to pull out the older brother routine.

“So… You two are pretty serious, from what I gather.”

Raleigh nods. “Yeah, I think so.”

Chuck nods in agreement. “We’re going to tell the rest of the team sometime this week. We wanted to give it time, make sure we knew what we were doing. We don’t want to hurt the team.”

“That’s good. I’m glad the two of you are being mature about it. God knows I fooled around in the minors with a teammate and we kind of destroyed the team chemistry when we broke it off.”

Raleigh chokes on his wine. “You never told me about that.”

Yancy shrugs. “It’s embarrassing, and I learned my lesson. I’m not telling you it can’t ever work, but as long as you both understand the risk.”

“We do,” Chuck says seriously.

“Good. Well, I’m happy for both of you. Good luck with the team. They’re going to give you such a hard time.”

Raleigh snorts. “Like you aren’t.”

Yancy smirks. “You got me.”

Raleigh walks Chuck to the door later that night. 

“That wasn’t so bad,” Chuck says in relief as they stand in the foyer together.

“I told you it would be fine.”

Chuck rolls his eyes. “Like you aren’t nervous about meeting my old man.”

Raleigh has no response for that.

Chuck kisses him lightly. “That’ll be fine, too, mate. My dad loves you. You’re apparently the lowest maintenance of all of us as far as equipment is concerned, so you’ve already got a point in your favor.”

“Hopefully that’s enough,” Raleigh says.

Chuck laughs, kissing him one more time before he opens the door and heads out. “You’ll see.”

Raleigh watches him go, before he closes the door and starts worrying about meeting Chuck’s father the next day.

\----

Herc takes it better than Yancy did. He opens the door and grins at them both.

"Thank God. When Chuck said he was dating someone on the team, I didn't want to get my hopes up. Thanks for not letting me down. I was worried it was going to be Tendo."

Chuck furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "Tendo is married. You've met his wife. She watches Max when we go on the road. Her name is Allison. Ring any bells?"

Herc shrugs. "No need to be a smart ass, kid. You never know with people these days. Not to say I wouldn't support you in your polyamorous relationship, but I like the Raleigh option better."

Chuck rolls his eyes, but smiles at Raleigh.

Raleigh will take it.

When Chuck gets up to go to the bathroom, Herc stares him down. "You better be good to my son."

Raleigh nods quickly. "I will."

Herc smiles. "That's good to hear. I ain't above sabotaging your equipment if you do him wrong, mate."

Overall, as far as shovel talks go, it could have been worse.

Now, all that's left is to tell the team.

\----

Stacker glares at them both as they sit across from him at his desk. 

"You're serious."

This is way worse than having to talk to Herc or Yancy.

"We are," Chuck says. Raleigh would feel bad about letting Chuck do all the talking, but. Sorry Chuck. Rest in peace.

"I have to admit this wasn't the conversation I thought I'd be having this morning. I was geared up for one of you to be requesting a trade, so I guess this is a step up from that."

"Definitely don't want a trade, sir," Chuck says.

"Obviously."

Stacker studies them.

"Well, you're both professionals, and I can't tell you what to do in your personal lives. I assume me telling you to break it off wouldn't go over well anyway."

"You're correct in that, sir." Chuck doesn't wilt under Stacker's gaze. 

Raleigh is impressed until Stacker's attention is on him.

"Any comments to add, Becket?"

"Nothing that Chuck hasn't already said. We know the risk, but we assure you that anything that happens in our personal lives won't impact the team. We'll make sure of that."

Stacker nods. "See to it that you do. You can hold your team only meeting after practice. No need to get everyone all riled up so they lose focus beforehand."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Raleigh looks at Chuck.

"Now get out of my office."

To say they both run out wouldn't be too far from the truth.

"Well, that only took five years off my life," Chuck says as they walk into the locker room.

Yancy throws his arms around both of them. "You're both still alive, I see."

"Barely," Raleigh mutters.

Yancy grins. "It'll be worth it in the end. Just think of Tendo's dumb face when everyone finds out."

Chuck laughs. "Too bad we can't record it and put that out there."

"Record what?" Hu asks, coming up between them.

"You'll find out later, mate."

Stacker comes in and claps his hands together. "Get a move on, kids. We have a practice to start. Team only meeting after so don't rush off when it's all over."

Hu looks at Chuck suspiciously before he heads over to talk to his brothers quietly.

Chuck and Raleigh are both a little distracted during practice. Chuck doesn’t even care when Raleigh tenses up and the ball flies wide.

Stacker looks at them both and sighs. He calls them over. “Why don’t you guys go try and calm down? You’re making me nervous just looking at you.”

They both nod gratefully and head into the locker room. Raleigh sits in his stall with his eyes closed. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Chuck says, sitting next to him.

Raleigh blows a breath out shakily. “I know. I just really don’t want to mess up the team’s dynamic. We’re doing so well right now.”

Chuck puts a hand on Raleigh’s thigh. “I get it.”

The team files in while they’re sitting quietly together. Tendo does a double take when he sees them.

“Why do you two look like that? We can’t be trading anyone, we’re doing too well.”

Raleigh lets out a startled laugh. “No, nobody’s traded.” 

Sasha looks around, concerned. “Is it your shoulder, Raleigh?”

“No one is hurt, no one is traded. Is everyone in here?” Chuck says impatiently.

There’s a murmur of accent from the room at large, before Chuck stands and pulls Raleigh up with him.

“Raleigh and I are dating.”

The announcement is met with a weighted silence, before the room is in uproar.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier? This is great. So happy for you!” 

“When the fuck did that happen?”

“So this is what we were recording.”

“Congratulations to both of you!”

“Oh my god, Tendo, your face.”

Stacker comes to stand in the middle of the room.

“All right, settle down, settle down. Now that we’re all in the know, this information does not leave this room. Their private lives are something they want to keep private. If they want it public, they’ll inform the press themselves. You lot will keep your mouths shut until then. Any problems with that or with them will deal with me. Am I clear?”

The team nods quickly, and Stacker stares at them all before he heads out of the locker room. “Practice is done. Get some rest for the next game.”

The room is quiet as he leaves, before Tendo stands up on one of the benches.

“Who wants to go out and celebrate?”

The room cheers. 

\----

Mako sits next to him at the booth they have in the back corner of the bar. 

“Mako! Mako, did you see Sasha hit today? Beautiful line drive,” Aleksis exclaims as soon as she sits down.

Mako smiles. “It was very good, Aleksis.”

Aleksis nods approvingly. “That is why she is drafted before me.”

Aleksis, as Tendo once said, does indeed talk non-stop about Sasha when he drinks. If he’s not talking about Sasha, he’s singing off-key to whatever song is playing.

Raleigh would find it annoying, except Chuck smiles at him from across the bar where he’s getting them all drinks, and Raleigh gets it on a personal level. He suspects he would be the same way if he had the privilege of being vocal with his affections.

Mako nudges Raleigh. “I am very happy for you both. I knew something was different, though I never would have guessed this. You are good for each other.”

“Like Sasha and me,” Aleksis declares proudly, reeling his wife into his side.

Sasha grins up at him, before looking at Raleigh. “Very happy for you. Love is wonderful thing.”

By the time Chuck gets back with the drinks, Aleksis and Sasha have both moved on to singing “Man I Feel Like a Woman” along with the jukebox.

\----

_**NEWT:** So you picked a new walk up song at the start of this road trip. You both did._

_**A. KAIDONOVSKY:** Yes! Shania Twain. I like very much. _

_**NEWT:** I have to say I never would have pegged you for a fan of hers._

_**A. KAIDONOVSKY:** I like lots of music. Wide taste._

_**NEWT:** Now Sasha, tell me about yours. I can’t say I’ve ever heard it before._

_**S. KAIDONOVSKY:** Is popular Russian music. I like because Alex Ovechkin has verse. _

_**NEWT:** The hockey player?_

_**S. KAIDONOVSKY:** We are big hockey fans. Hockey very important in Russia. I wanted to play hockey when I was girl._

_**NEWT:** And why didn't you?_

_**A. KAIDONOVSKY:** I was not good enough. We play together, yes? So she give up hockey, we do baseball because we both very good._

_**NEWT:** Fascinating. _

[Photo: A. Kaidonovsky in a cowboy hat at a concert with S. Kaidonovsky. Photo credit: Instagram, **aleksis-kaidonovsky**. Caption: very good music!

 **tendbro14:** you didn't invite the rest of us! Very hurt, Aleksis.  
**bestbecket21:** that's because you're annoying and they wanted to get away from you **@tendbro14**  
**tendbro14:** #harsh  
**aleksia-kaidonovsky:** i take everyone next one )))]

\----

Raleigh trails after Chuck in the mall. Chuck is on a mission to get a watch for his father’s birthday. 

Chuck has beelined for some jewelry store or other. They’re all the same to Raleigh. He gets bored of the watches, and wanders around looking in the cases while Chuck talks seriously to the man behind the counter. 

Raleigh is just looking. He doesn’t have any occasion to buy anything from a store like this, but a display of rings stops him up short. 

They’re simple for all that they’re not plain. They’ve got wood inlayed into the metal. 

Raleigh glances over at Chuck. He wonders if he could get a similar one made.

They haven’t talked about marriage, but he’s always thought it’s better to be prepared. 

He shakes his head and wanders back over to Chuck’s side. 

He goes back to the store on his own the next day. 

The same man who sold Chuck the watch is only too happy to tell him they can custom make a ring similar to the ones in the case. 

Raleigh sheepishly puts the pieces of his broken bat on the counter between them.

“Can you work with this?”

The man raises an eyebrow, but looks at the wood of the bat carefully, before he nods. “We can definitely work with this. You’ll probably even get most of it back.”

Raleigh doesn’t think about the price of it, just hands over his card.

“We’ll call you when it’s ready,” the man says kindly, moving the bat off the counter to lean against the wall.

Raleigh nods and takes his receipt. “Thank you.”

\----

The season winds down. They’re nearly the top of their division.

The jewelry store calls while they’re out of town.

Raleigh stares at the ring when he picks it up.

“Is it to your liking, sir?” 

Raleigh nods, throat tight. “It’s perfect.”

He even gets the rest of his bat back.

The man smiles happily. “Glad to hear it.”

Raleigh lets him go over the warranty again. He can’t stop looking at it.

Yancy catches him with it in the kitchen.

“What ya got there, little brother?”

Raleigh jumps guiltily. He’d been so absorbed in staring at the damn ring he didn’t hear Yancy come home.

Yancy freezes when he sees it. “Are you…?”

Raleigh shrugs helplessly, embarrassed. “Not yet, no, but…”

“Can I see it?” 

Raleigh hands it over reluctantly. 

Yancy turns it over in his hand. “It’s really nice, Raleigh. Chuck will love it when you get around to asking.”

“I hope so.”

Yancy gives it back, and Raleigh cradles it in his palm.

“Please don’t tell anyone. We haven’t talked about it. I don’t even know if that’s something he’d want, but the store had rings like these, and I just… I don’t know. I got the idea in my head.”

Yancy pulls him into a tight hug. “Hey, I won’t tell a soul. You’re fine. I’m happy for you, kid. He’ll say yes when you ask. I know he will.”

Raleigh tries not to cling to Yancy’s shoulders. “I hope so. Do you think we're moving too fast?"

Yancy shakes his head. "Kid, the only one who can tell you that isn't me. That's between you and him. The way he looks at you, though, I'd bet you're moving along just fine."

He hides the ring in the top drawer of his nightstand. He looks at it occasionally, and it never fails to make his chest feel tight.

\----

Of all the games they’ve played, the entire season leading up to this moment, this game is the most important one. If they win it, not only are they in the playoffs, but they’ll lock home-field advantage. 

The game is tied, and it’s their turn to bat. 

Raleigh sidles up to Chuck at the cooler where he’s getting ready to go out on deck.

“We’ve done a good job taking things slow, right?”

Chuck eyes him suspiciously, before he says carefully, “Yes, I’d say so.”

Raleigh nods thoughtfully. “And you like me, right?”

“Most of the time,” Chuck replies with a smirk as he pulls his batting gloves on.

“So we’re far enough along that I can say, if you hit a home run right now, I’ll blow you tonight.” Raleigh leans in as he says the last bit so he can whisper right in Chuck’s ear.

Chuck’s eyes go wide, and his face goes red. “Yeah, you could definitely say that.”

“Hansen! Get on deck,” Stacker calls out.

Raleigh steps back and smiles at him innocently. “Good luck, then.”

Chuck stares at him in disbelief, before he walks stiffly up to take his practice swings.

Raleigh returns to his spot on the bench.

Tendo hits a single that gets him on base and sends Yancy around to third, so they have three runs if Chuck hits the homer. 

Chuck sends the first pitch he sees over the wall.

When he gets into the dugout, he raises an eyebrow at Raleigh in challenge. 

“It’s no first career home-run, but it’ll do.”

Chuck laughs. “How about this? I’ll return the favor if you can keep the lead until Mako closes us out.”

“You’re on,” Raleigh says.

He keeps the lead, and then Stacker is sending Mako out to relieve him.

“You’ve got this. We’re going to make it into the playoffs,” Raleigh says, tapping his glove to hers.

She grins. “Of course we are.”

Raleigh watches the next two innings nervously. 

It winds down. Raleigh watches Mako as she throws what could be her final pitch.

The batter swings and misses.

They’re going to the playoffs.

\----

They go out to celebrate, flush with victory. Even being the away team can’t put a damper on the high of making the playoffs and putting a lock on home-field advantage. They had to crawl up the standings. They earned their place, and now they have a chance at the World Series. 

The thing is, despite having fun out with the team, all Raleigh can think about is getting Chuck alone in their shared hotel room.

Raleigh scans the club for him, spotting him at the bar. He pushes his way through the crowd.

“Please tell me you want to get out of here now,” Raleigh says, leaning close into Chuck to be heard over the music.

Chuck latches onto his wrist and drags him towards the door. “Thought you’d never ask, mate.”

Raleigh somehow manages to keep his hands to himself in the cab back to the hotel. He has to sit on them, but hey, he manages.

Chuck seems to be managing just as well as him, if all the sidelong glances are anything to go by.

Chuck crowds against his back and Raleigh fumbles to get the keycard into the door. He curses as it blinks red at him twice before it finally clicks open.

They tumble into the room, and Chuck backs him towards the closest bed.

“I cannot believe you said that to me in the dugout,” Chuck growls between kisses. “All I could think about was you kneeling for me on this ugly carpet. You’re lucky I didn’t completely forget how to play.”

“No need to inflate my ego,” Raleigh says, before Chuck bites him on the shoulder over his shirt and he groans. The back of his legs hit the bed and he sits down. Chuck crawls into his lap, pinning him in place.

Chuck waste no time in pulling his shirt off, and then Raleigh’s.

Chuck’s eyes land on the scars lacing his left shoulder. His fingers are gentle as he brushes over them, and Raleigh shudders. Chuck follows that up with his tongue. 

Raleigh is achingly hard in his pants as Chuck works over his shoulder before drawing him into a sloppy kiss.

Raleigh pulls away, panting. “You should sit back against the headboard. I believe I was supposed to blow you first.”

Chuck scrambles to do so, pulling his jeans and underwear off as he goes. 

Raleigh sits at the edge of the bed and just looks at him for a moment. They’ve seen each other naked. It’s hard not to in a locker room setting, but this is different. So totally different.

“Any day now,” Chuck says with a smirk.

“We’ve waited how long now? A few more seconds won’t kill you,” Raleigh chides, but crawls up the bed so he can kiss Chuck again.

Raleigh can’t help but grind down, and Chuck gasps into his mouth. “If you keep that up, this isn’t going to last very long.”

Raleigh laughs, but pulls away and scoots down so he’s at level with Chuck’s dick.

Chuck arches off the bed with a jolt when Raleigh drags his tongue up the underside of his erection.

“Definitely not going to take very much,” Chuck says breathlessly to the ceiling.

Raleigh grins, and wraps his lips around the tip. Chuck hisses. 

Raleigh stays there for a second, until Chuck groans in frustration. 

Before he can actually complain, Raleigh swallows him down. Chuck’s hips buck up involuntarily.

“Sorry, sorry,” Chuck gasps as Raleigh chokes a little in surprise. 

Raleigh gets down to business. Chuck makes noises like Raleigh is sucking the life right out of him. 

It doesn’t take long before Chuck chokes out his name. 

Raleigh pulls back and sucks hard on the head. Chuck tenses up, and then he’s coming in Raleigh’s mouth.

Raleigh swallows by reflex as Chuck takes a minute to catch his breath. 

Raleigh sits up and kisses him desperately. 

“Do you want me to-“ Chuck gestures down, pulling away a little.

“Next time. I’m so close, just your hand. That’s good enough.”

Chuck nods, kissing him again as he fumbles with the button and zipper of Raleigh’s jeans. 

Chuck jerks him with uncoordinated strokes, kissing Raleigh through all the noises he makes.

After, Raleigh gets a towel to clean himself off. He offers it to Chuck, and then tosses it in the direction of the bathroom.

“I’ll get that tomorrow,” Raleigh says as he climbs back into bed.

Chuck curls up against him as soon as he’s settled. 

Chuck traces the scars over his shoulder.

“How did you do this? I mean, I read the articles afterwards, but I’d like to hear you tell it.”

Raleigh cards his fingers through Chuck’s hair. 

“I was driving. It was raining. Pouring, really. It was pretty late, so there was no one on the road. I was going too fast. Hydroplaned when I tried to take a turn too fast. Rolled my car into a ditch. Guess I understand first hand why they call them dead man curves.”

Chuck presses a kiss to the skin under his mouth. “I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt. I’ll never say I’m glad it happened, but it lead you here.”

Raleigh buries his nose in Chuck’s hair. “Yeah, that it did.” 

\----

Safe to say things aren’t slow for them after that.

\----

The playoffs pass in something of a blur. The games are brutal, and it takes everything in them to play. They’re _winning_ though. They’re winning, and eventually they’re celebrating on the field knowing they’re going to move onto the World Series. They’re four wins away from the championship. They’re four wins away from lifting the Commissioner’s Trophy. 

With how their season started, it’s a goddamn miracle.

Raleigh lets Chuck fuck him leisurely in celebration. 

\----

_**NEWT:** How does it feel to be going to the World Series?_

_**WEI:** It’s unbelievable. We worked really hard to get here. Whether or not we win, we earned our spot here. It’s been an incredible season._

_**NEWT:** Now, Cheung-_

_**WEI:** I’m Hu._

_**NEWT:** I am so sorry, Hu. They told me-_

_**WEI:** I’m just messing with you, man. I’m Cheung. Dude, you’re so easy for that trick, though._

_**NEWT:** Oh my god, this team is the worst. _

_**WEI:** Our record begs to differ. _

\----

They’re in the World Series against the Kaiju. It just had to be them. Raleigh doesn’t think he’s hated an opponent as much as he hates their entire roster. 

They drop the first game, and it stings. They get the next two back, but then drop the two after that. 

This game could be the end for them. They didn’t get this far to get knocked out this way.

They take it to extra innings, and Mako keeps it even until they force a game seven with two runs they score in the eleventh. 

It’s brutal, and by the end, they’re all tired and ready to go home.

They still have to get on a plane and travel back after the game. By the time they get off the plane at the airport, everyone is dragging.

Chuck is leaning against the wall as they wait for their bags. "Want to come back to mine? I sleep better when you're there nowadays and I’m not picking Max up from Allison until tomorrow."

Raleigh turns to Yancy. "I'm going home with Chuck."

Yancy waves him away weakly. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Have fun."

In the morning, Chuck slumps into a chair at the kitchen table, staring blearily into the coffee Raleigh presents him.

Chuck doesn't do any better with mornings than Yancy does.

Raleigh watches him fondly as he tries to wake up. The light from the morning sun slants in through the window and hits the side of Chuck's face just right.

Raleigh, in the way he has all season when Chuck does anything with his face like that, trips over his words to say, "You should marry me."

Chuck blinks down at his coffee, before his head snaps up and he looks at Raleigh with wide eyes.

"Are you fucking with me?"

"No. You should marry me. I have a ring."

“You’re actually serious.”

Raleigh nods. “I know it’s fast. It’s a stupid idea.”

Chuck stares at him before he smiles slightly.

"How about this? I'll marry you if you win me a World Series ring tomorrow."

Raleigh grins. "Deal."

Chuck takes a sip of his coffee. "I hope that engagement ring you got me is a nice one. I have expensive taste, you know."

Raleigh nods seriously. "I remember. If you don't like it, I'll get you a better one."

Chuck studies him. "I'll like it no matter what, Raleigh. It's not about the ring. Either one."

\----

Game seven. If they win this game, they win it all. The series has been brutal. Tensions are high, and there’s a feeling in the air like one wrong move will lead to another brawl on the field. They have six innings left to go.

Knife hits the ball out to center, and it drops in front of Cheung, who throws it in an arc to Chuck, waiting for the force out at home. Slattern sees Chuck, and doesn’t alter course, dropping to slide into home cleats first. They collide over the plate. Despite the impact, Chuck keeps the ball in his glove.

The umpire gives the sign, calling the out. Slattern curses as he stands, but Chuck isn’t getting up. 

Raleigh is at his side in an instant, dropping to his knees in the dirt. Chuck sits up slowly, pulling his mask off his face, so he can look at his leg.

“It doesn’t feel right, Rals,” Chuck says, expression pinched.

Raleigh sits back on his heels to wave for a trainer, but Chuck grabs his arm, grip just shy of painful.

"Help me up," Chuck demands through clenched teeth.

Raleigh shakes his head. "I'd feel better if you'd let a trainer at least look at you."

"Get me up. Finish the inning out. I'll go while we're batting. Get a codeine shot, and it'll be fine. I'll be damnned if I let them take me out of what could be our World Series game."

Raleigh looks towards the dugout and waves off the trainer who's waiting at the top of the stairs just in case. "If it's too much, you fucking call it, okay?"

Chuck nods, and Raleigh hauls him up. Raleigh watches his face intently, but besides the tightness around his eyes and mouth, he doesn't show anything. He tests his leg out as Raleigh hovers.

"Okay boys?" the umpire asks, watching them from where he’s letting Stacker yell at him.

Raleigh isn't so sure, but Chuck pulls his mask back down and nods.

"I'm fine."

Chuck grabs Raleigh hard on the shoulder before he can walk away and hisses in his ear, "I know you're mad, but pitch clean. We're going to fucking beat them without taking cheap shots, okay? Nobody is getting taken out of this game for that."

Raleigh nods unhappily, but returns to the mound.

Yancy comes over while Stacker is still angrily discussing the play with the umpire. He puts his glove over his mouth. "He okay?"

Raleigh shakes his head slightly, and Yancy curses. Tendo and Sasha drift over.

"Slattern did that on purpose. Dirty play," Sasha says behind her glove.

Raleigh nods, masking his own face. "Chuck said to keep it clean. He doesn't want any of us thrown out. Spread that to everybody else."

"Good man," Tendo says before he drifts away towards the outfield and the Wei's who are grouped together where grass meets the infield dirt.

Stacker throws his hands up and the umpire moves back to his spot behind the bag. The game starts back up again. 

Raleigh does everything he can to keep the ball over home so Chuck doesn't have to chase. He strikes out the next two batters, and gets to Chuck's side to help him off the field as subtly as he can.

Yancy gives Chuck a fist bump when they get to the dugout. "Way to go, man. You sure have bad luck with the Kaiju, though."

"Fucking tell me about it." Chuck limps towards Hermann who ushers him down towards the trainer's room.

Raleigh watches their at bats, and tries not to worry about Chuck. It isn't going very well. Chuck settles in gingerly next to him before Raleigh has to go stand on deck. 

"Alright?"

Chuck shrugs. "I will be. Hermann isn't happy I'm out here, but I'm going to finish this game out."

Raleigh grinds his teeth, but doesn’t beg him to follow the trainer's directions. "We'll win it for you."

Chuck grins tiredly. "You fucking better."

Raleigh hits a double that brings Sasha in from third and Aleksis in from second.

That puts them ahead by one. It’s 3-2.

He’s leading off the bag when Leather inches over in his direction.

“You know, saw your catcher having some trouble on his way off.”

Raleigh ignores him.

“Don’t worry about him. We’ll get him out of the game eventually. One more collision at home ought to do,” Leather promises.

“That means you’ll have to get a hit off me first,” Raleigh snarls back, right as Jin hits the ball into deep centerfield. 

Raleigh scores. 

He goes into the dugout, and beelines for Chuck.

Chuck claps him on the back as he sits down. “Good job, mate.”

Raleigh nods jerkily. 

“What’s wrong?”

Raleigh shakes his head. “Nothing. Leather was trash talking, that’s all.”

Chuck bumps into his shoulder gently. “Don’t let it get to you, yeah? You’re pitching a great game. We’ve got this.”

Raleigh nods. “Yeah, I know.”

Hu strikes out, and they take their spots in the field. 

Chuck does a good job of not letting his pain show, but he’s slow to squat down behind the plate.

Raleigh grits his teeth and taps the brim of his hat.

Leather is the first batter up. He grins at Raleigh smugly. 

Raleigh scowls and throws hard. Right over the plate. Right through the strike zone, three times in a row.

Leather looks floored as the umpire calls him out.

Raleigh takes a deep breath. Two more batters, just like that. Easy.

Yancy smothers Raleigh in his armpit on the way back to the dugout after the third out. “Way to go, kid! That was incredible.”

“What’s gotten in to you?” Chuck asks quietly as they sit together in the dugout

Raleigh shrugs uncomfortably. "Just pitching a clean game, like you told me to."

Chuck looks at him suspiciously. "You'll tell me the truth at the end of the game."

Raleigh winces. "I'll tell you at the end of the game."

They score three more runs before the Kaiju get their three outs. 

Raleigh strikes out three batters. 

It goes on like that, them racking up runs and Raleigh keeping batters off the bags.

At the end of the seventh, Stacker waves him over. "Do you want to stay in? You're pitching perfect. If you want to stay, Mako will let you."

Raleigh doesn't hesitate. "Put her in. She's going to want to have pitched in this game. This is a team, after all."

Stacker nods, giving him an approving pat on the shoulder, before he grabs the dugout phone to make the call to the bullpen.

Mako taps her glove to his as she takes the mound from him. "Thank you."

Raleigh puts his glove over his mouth and leans in closer to her. "They're gunning for Chuck because they know he's already hurt. Before, it might have been to throw us off and get the win. Now, it's just going to be for revenge."

Mako looks at Chuck, standing behind home with the umpire, before nodding sharply at Raleigh. "They'll have to get on base first."

Raleigh grins at her. "Knock 'em dead."

Mako does just that.

She finishes out the 8th perfect.

They have home field advantage, so they just have to finish the top of the 9th. Mako is locked in, and it's three up, three down. They did it.

The final score is 15-2.

The ballpark goes wild.

They won the World Series. The entire team piles on Mako, throwing their hats. Raleigh is one of the last to get out to the mound.

He beams at her when she finally gets free of the dog pile.

"You did it!"

She smiles at him and shakes her head. "No, we did it."

Chuck crashes into his side, and Raleigh catches his shoulder to steady him.

“How’s your leg?” Raleigh asks.

Chuck grins at him. “I’m not sure I could feel anything other than completely chuffed right now.”

Chuck shakes him a little. "We won!"

"We did. You know what that means, right?"

Chuck's smile softens into something meant just for Raleigh. "Yeah, I do. Can’t wait to see this ring, mate.”

\----

_**NEWT:** I see you’re in a splint now._

_**HANSEN:** Fractured tibia from the collision at home._

_**NEWT:** Weren’t you worried about making it worse when you stayed in the game?_

_**HANSEN:** I wasn’t about to sit out for this game. I don’t regret it._

_**NEWT:** You certainly weren’t slowed down by pain during your locker room celebration, that’s for sure._

_**HANSEN:** I had better things to focus on._

[Photo: R. Becket and Hansen kissing in a spray of champagne with the Commissioner's Trophy between them. The Rangers locker room celebrates around them. Photo credit: Instagram, **r.becket27**. Caption: What a season. Thank you to my teammates for everything. In particular, thank you to **@officialhansen24** for calling me out when I needed it and for supporting me the rest of the time. Couldn't have done it without you.

 **tendbro14:** #goals  
**bestbecket21:** gross #codependent  
**mori.mako.:** congrats to you both  
**aleksis-kaidonovsky:** ))))))))))))  
**sasha-kaidonovsky:** поздравления !!!  
**weithe7:** cute  
**weithe8:** way cute  
**weithe9:** way way cute  
**officialhansen24:** you're such a giant sap  
**r.becket27:** you love it  
**officialhansen24:** i might]

\----

Raleigh gives Chuck the ring he got a little shyly. He gets down on one knee in kitchen of Chuck’s apartment while Max waddles around them in excitement. It seems appropriate. 

Chuck stares at the ring, mouth open a little.

“I had it made. The wood is from the bat I broke on my first home run. The game you agreed to let me take you to dinner.”

Raleigh is a little alarmed to see Chuck’s eyes watering. He hurries to say, “I can get you a better one.”

Chuck wipes at his eyes roughly. “The fuck you can. Put that ring on my finger right goddamn now.”

\----

_Rangers P Raleigh Becket and C Chuck Hansen have announced their engagement over social media. The picture of the engagement ring appeared on Hansen’s Instagram account the evening following the Rangers 15-2 World Series win against the Kaiju. A wedding date has not been set yet._

[Photo: a left hand, silver ring with a maple wood inlay on the ring finger. Photo credit: Instagram, **officialhansen24**. Caption: Some rings are more important than others.

 **bestbecket21:** welcome to the family bro  
**tendbro14:** #adorable  
**r.becket27:** now who's sappy?  
**officialhansen24:** i don't know what you're talking about, mate. I'm just showing off my ring.  
**hercules.hansen:** how does this bloody site work.  
**officialhansen24:** omg dad  
**hercules.hansen:** I just wanted to say congratulations  
**r.becket27:** thank you sir. I'll treat him right.  
**Hercules.hansen:** you better  
**officialhansen24:** DAD]

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments always welcome.
> 
> For kicks, everyone’s walkup songs as I imagine it
> 
> Yancy – Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins  
> Tendo – Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top  
> Chuck – TNT by AC/DC  
> Cheung, Jin, Hu – X Gon’ Give It To Ya by DMX  
> Sasha – Champion/Чемпион by Sasha Belyi  
> Aleksis – That Don’t Impress Me Much by Shania Twain  
> Raleigh – Believer by Imagine Dragons  
> Mako – Kashmir by Led Zeppelin


End file.
